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Page 237
the men. Bread and cheese and wine were carried up to them, and Father Francis came up to say Mass in an improvised chapel while the bishops officiated below. The morning was given to the examination of one another's dresses, to trying these jewels and those. Alinor's wedding gown, brocaded gold and orange velvet, was laid out and drew exclamations of envy and pleasure.
Midmorning, Ian's squires craved admittance and were bidden to enter. "Bride gift," passed from mouth to mouth, and the women clustered close. The small casket the boys bore was a work of art worth a king's ransom in itself, carved of ivory, bound in gold, and set with gems. It was deep for a jewel box. Alinor opened it carefully, looked inside, and drew breath. Pearls, glowing with a life of their own, marvelously matched for color, lay within. She drew them forth, and drew, and drew, while around her sighs changed to gasps. Someone took the box, and someone else piled the strand into Alinor's hands until both hands were full and the loops fell over. At last they found the clasp, a golden hook that fastened to a short chain that held another marvela glowing, sparkling, golden stone as large as a hen's egg, but flatter, carved into the likeness of a phoenix rising from a bed of flames.
That wonder kept them all occupied until it was time to dress in the finery that had earlier been displayed. Alinor could not help wondering, as Lady Llewelyn, Lady Salisbury, and Lady Pembroke wound the pearls around her neck, whether she would be able to support their weight, but they were not heavy. As light to bear, Alinor thought, as a strong man's body in the act of love. She was deeply grateful to Ian, not only for displaying the incredible value he set upon her, but for giving her a jewel that Simon had never favored. She wondered now whether this enormous celebration was only for political purposes. Ian was so very kind. He had known of her first wedding, bereft of all ceremony,

 
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